Abstract

Citations (4)

Footnotes (99)

Using the URL or DOI link below will
ensure access to this page indefinitely

Based on your IP address, your paper is being delivered by:

New York, USA

Processing request.

Illinois, USA

Processing request.

Brussels, Belgium

Processing request.

Seoul, Korea

Processing request.

California, USA

Processing request.

If you have any problems downloading this paper,please click on another Download Location above, or view our FAQFile name: SSRN-id447100. ; Size: 510K

You will receive a perfect bound, 8.5 x 11 inch, black and white printed copy of this PDF document with a glossy color cover. Currently shipping to U.S. addresses only. Your order will ship within 3 business days. For more details, view our FAQ.

Quantity:Total Price = $9.99 plus shipping (U.S. Only)

If you have any problems with this purchase, please contact us for assistance by email: Support@SSRN.com or by phone: 877-SSRNHelp (877 777 6435) in the United States, or +1 585 442 8170 outside of the United States. We are open Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:30AM and 6:00PM, United States Eastern.

From Enron to WorldCom and Beyond: Life and Crime After Sarbanes-Oxley

In roughly two years since the corporate meltdown began, federal and state regulators have initiated criminal fraud investigations involving dozens of corporations, including Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, HealthSouth, McKesson, and Qwest. To date, some ninety corporate owners, executives, and employees have been criminally charged, and the investigations are ongoing. It was against this backdrop that zeal for corporate governance reform gained unexpected momentum in Congress and resulted in the surprisingly quick enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Although its principal purpose is to address systemic weaknesses in corporate governance structures, Sarbanes-Oxley also augments prosecutorial tools available in major fraud cases.

Critics complain that Sarbanes-Oxley's criminal provisions are needlessly redundant, rely too heavily on enhanced criminal penalties to achieve their goals, and attach far too much importance to filling minor gaps in the coverage of existing laws. This article presents the alternative view that the Act's criminal provisions make significant strides toward piercing the veil of corporate silence. Using as its central focus the essential roles that whistleblowers and cooperating witnesses have played in recent corporate fraud investigations, the article evaluates key criminal provisions in Sarbanes-Oxley that extend new legal protections to whistleblowers and that are likely to provide powerful incentives for potential targets of fraud investigations to become cooperating witnesses.

An appendix to the article tracks criminal charges brought against nearly ninety corporate officers and employees in some fifty major fraud prosecutions the Justice Department filed between March, 2002 - when it first charged Arthur Andersen with obstruction of justice - and August, 2003.